Country diary

Stinchcombe Hill, where I have played golf for 20 years, is a high limestone headland on the east side of the Severn Vale which commands fine views in most directions. Visitors to the golf course paying green fees are often advised that the views come at no additional charge. The southern prospect is a panorama of the whole flood plain stretch of the Severn, the two bridges, and the distant coast of north Somerset. This view encompasses the area now being considered for a Severn barrage across the estuary. Such a scheme would generate green electricity, but at the cost of untold damage to the estuary's natural environment. The adversaries are already lining up. The National Trust, with coastal landholdings, has recorded early objections. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, headquartered at Slimbridge since its foundation by Sir Peter Scott, is also an objector.

The damage to the natural environment is at present unquantifiable, but changing the water levels of the estuary, which has a steep tidal gradient, is bound to have consequences. And even without a barrage, the ecology and life of the estuary has been changing. The massive annual spring inflow of elvers used to generate both a bitterly contested war on the river banks between net fishermen competing to scoop them up, and a short-term merchant operation in Gloucester to buy the catch and transport it to European markets, where the reputation of the elvers as an aphrodisiac ensured high-value sales. The elver harvest has declined so much that I am not sure any of the buying stations opened last spring. Similarly, the Wye still hopes for a salmon run, and it does occasionally happen. These natural parts of the estuarial cycle are all at risk. Is the green electricity worth it?